Careers in Libraries:

A Bibliography of Traditional and Web-based Library Career Resources

The Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR) would like to acknowledge the following students of the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, who, in 2013, as part of the graduate library and information studies course "Information Sources and Services in the Social Sciences" (LIS516), along with their professor, Dr. Lorna Peterson, worked diligently in updating materials for this website: Jacob Bigelow, Melissa Blattner, Elizabeth Estes, Melissa Friedler, Chelsea Johnson, Patrick Melfi, Brandon Morrisey.

Originally, this bibliography was compiled in August 2000 by Jan E. Hayes and Julie Todaro for the American Library Association, Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment, and was funded by a Carnegie Reading List Grant.

Classic Career Information

Barron-Tieger, Barbara and Paul D. Tieger. Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type. 4th ed. New York: Little Brown & Company, 2007.

Helfand, David. Career Change: Everything You Need to Know to Meet New Challenges and Take Interests, Abilities, and Goals to Find the Career That’s Right for You. 2nd Ed. Hollywood, Fla.: Lifetime Books, 1999.

Lore, Nicholas. The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Success.
Revised. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012.

Library Careers

Barr, Catherine. "Library Employment Sources on the Internet." Computers In Libraries 32, no. 6 (July 2012): 9-12. Accessed April 18, 2013. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost.
-This article presents a thorough listing of sources for librarians that are interested in a variety of different library fields, to name a few academic, public, and government. This article presents a formative reference list for new librarians as well as those already in the profession that are looking to pursue a different avenue in the library profession. In addition to listing varying fields, the article includes a site that can aid librarians in connecting to others in their field all over the world. In addition, this article lists a blog that allows those interested in the library profession to ask questions as well as providing for those in the profession sound professional advice. Catherine Barr was a co-editor of 2012 edition of The Library and Book Trade Almanac (formerly known as The Bowker Annual). The Library and Book Trade Almanac is valued as an indispensable go to guide for those in the library profession.

Bishop, Ph.D., Kay.“Connecting Libraries with Classrooms: The Curricular Roles of the Media Specialist.” California: Linworth, 2011.
-This book provides new and pre-service school media specialists with ways to work in partnership with teachers in different subject areas. The book also provides techniques on how to address special need groups such as students with autism and LGBT students. This text addresses the media specialist’s role in the modern curriculum for the K-12 grades. In addition, Dr. Bishop looks at current trends in education such as Web 2.0, English as a second language and distance education. Her book is a comprehensive guide for the new school media specialist, working as a reference point for the changing role that school media specialists face today. Dr. Kay Bishop was an associate professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In addition to her work as a professor in the Library and Information Studies field, Bishop also had over twenty years of experience as a school librarian.

Breitkopf, Mia. “61 Non-Librarian Jobs for LIS Grads,” School of Information Studies Syracuse University: Information Space. Last modified December 23, 2011.http://infospace.ischool.syr.edu/2011/12/23/61-non-librarian-jobs-for-librarians/
-Mia Breitkopf is currently a student in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. Her web article presents a fresh look at the numerous non-traditional job opportunities for library students entering the workforce today in the year 2013. Although many of the links for the job titles are no longer operating, the list still provides LIS students with a listing of potential job topics that they can seek out while job hunting. Her article also presents libr ary students from other universities the opportunity to see what another school is doing in the library field. In uncertain financial times, Mia’s article provides a creative look at how and where a library student or library professional can market their skills in new and creative ways. In addition to Mia’s article, this web page also provides links to other topics of interest to those in the library profession.

Langley, Anne, and Jonathan Wallace. A Practical Writing Guide for Academic Librarians. United Kingdom: TBAC Business Centre, 2011.
-Langley and Wallace created this writing guide to help those that are new to the role of academic librarian. This book provides guidance for each of the types of writing that academic librarians will be required to write during their career. The book will also help academic librarians already in the profession to improve their writing skills. This guide assists academic librarians from the hiring interview to the correct style of writing for various writing tasks such as progress reports and project plans. The guide provides statistics, graphs, and examples of writing that allow the reader to learn how to target their intended audience. Anne Langley has worked in academic libraries for over twenty-two years in areas such as collections and management. Jonathan Wallace has worked as a freelance academic writer for over seventeen years. His past work includes being a writing tutor and a newspaper copy editor.

Lawson, Judy, Kroll, Joanna and Kelly Kowatch. The New Information Professional: Your Guide to Careers in the Digital Age. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2010.

Sellen, Betty-Carol. What Else You Can Do with a Library Degree: Career Options for the 90s and Beyond. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1997.

Woodward, Jeannette. The Transformed Library : E-books, Expertise, and Evolution. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2013.
-This book provides current librarians a perspective on how to use social media as a way to connect to patrons. The idea is to show patrons that librarians are still able to assist them in information gathering in this digital age. Woodward addresses how the library as an institution has been redefined over the past few decades as well as endured economic hardship. She provides a look at how library professionals can use the electronic media trend to their advantage by expanding their role in their surrounding community. She shows how library professionals need to tailor their skills to meet the changing environment and can prove to patrons that librarians are still a precious commodity in the information domain. Jeannette Woodward has had a career in both academic and public libraries.

Library Organizations

Other Library Associations

American Association of Law Librarians: Education for a Career in Law Librarianship

One of the best overviews of a profession, this site provides interested professionals with vast content on becoming a law librarian to seeking a position as one. It includes sections on law librarianship as a career, evaluating educational programs in the field, expectations of course of study, how to finance a degree in the field, and how to find a position in the field.

SAA: The Society of American Archivists

General Library Portals/Pathfinders

These library career Web sites include links from the best known library information portals (IPL, Berkeley) library school sites, some institutional sites, and personal Web pages maintained by practitioners. Although not all of the “second level” links are always working, the sites provide somewhat redundant but massive job hunting Web resources for librarians.

LibraryCareers.org

As an initiative of the American Library Association, this website provides basic information for individuals curious about careers in libraries. Provides information on how to pursue education as well as covers the numerous types of library positions.

This resource is great for initial research about careers in libraries. However, for individuals who already have a degree, the information provided may not be very useful for a job search.

OWLSweb Links for Librarians

Professional Resources for Librarians

Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals

General Career Web Sites

Academic Employment Network

AEN is for professionals looking for a teaching job or other academic position. AEN is designed for school administrators or department heads but the site’s markets are broader as it lists “available positions in colleges, primary and secondary educational institutions for faculty, staff, and administrative professionals.”

Career Builder

This is a large commercial site which advertises that it links to over thirty million jobs. Limiting by library sciences with no geographic limitation the search yielded twenty jobs at a variety of levels within libraries, some circulation assistant and some high tech managers in special library environments.

EDUCAUSE Job Posting Service

Indeed: One Search, All Jobs

Indeed.com, Last modified 2013. Accessed April 22, 2013.
Indeed.com is an employment-related metasearch engine for job listings. Users can conveniently search for jobs, including education and library-related jobs, find resumes, or post a job all within their website. Users can simply type in the job title they are searching for and the location in which they are seeking a job. Indeed then provides users with a list of job postings that meet the criteria they’ve selected and that are updated on a daily basis to browse through.

This website is run by the Association of Research libraries. The page provides an updated list of job openings for academic librarians, as well as residency and internship opportunities. Newest postings are placed at the top of the list. The website is simple and provides links and descriptions of available positions. There are portals to view or post positions. Interested parties can easily view available positions, read descriptions and follow links to the job postings that are posted at the end of the descriptions.

Monster.com

This newer site advertises more than any other commercial site on the web and is rich in resources. Searching under “library” finds a number of jobs and several are professional librarian positions.

Occupational Outlook Handbook United States Department of Labor

SimplyHired

Simplyhired.com is a job search engine that pulls job listings from company websites, job boards, and the web. Users can search jobs by keyword, job title, company, skills, and location. There is also a browse feature where job seekers can look for jobs by category. Although there is not a specific category for the education or library fields, users can easily use the keyword search to find relevant jobs. Results can be sorted by the date posted title, company, education, experience, as well as by other filters. Simplyhired.com was ranked as the number four most popular job website in April of 2013 by eBizMBA.com.

Yahoo’s Business Employment Directory

Various Regional and State Employment Search Sites

Quintessential Careers: a database collection of state-based job searches in the Midwest and Central United States. http://www.quintcareers.com/central_jobs.html. Site for job-seekers looking for employment anywhere in Midwest/Central U.S. -- including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio -- these are the best job boards and career resources you need to visit to help you in your job search.

Quintessential Careers: a database collection of state-based job searches in the Southern United States. http://www.quintcareers.com/southern_jobs.html. Site for job-seekers looking for employment anywhere in the south and southwest U.S. -- including Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas -- these are the best job boards and career resources you need to visit to help you in your job search.

Quintessential Careers: a database collection of state-based job searches in the Western United States. http://www.quintcareers.com/western_jobs.html. Site for job-seekers looking for employment anywhere in Western U.S. -- including Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah -- these are the best job boards and career resources you need to visit to help you in your job search.